Table of Contents
*****************
GNU remotecontrol
1 Overview
2 Scope
2.1 Information Technology
2.2 Energy Management
2.3 End User
2.4 Financial Management
3 Key Principles
3.1 Present Capabilities
3.2 HVAC Thermostat
3.3 Thinking by Talking
3.4 Choosing Decision Makers
3.4.1 HVAC
3.4.2 Information Technology
3.4.3 Conclusion
3.5 Security Considerations
3.5.1 Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
3.5.2 Industrial Control System
3.5.3 System Administration-Audit-Network Security
3.6 Frequently Asked Questions
3.6.1 Why do we call it GNU remotecontrol?
3.6.2 Why do I need GNU remotecontrol?
3.6.3 How do I know who changed what?
3.6.4 What will GNU remotecontrol do for me?
3.6.5 Can I figure my energy usage for my HVAC units?
3.6.6 How do I use GNU remotecontrol?
3.6.7 Can I use GNU remotecontrol and Remote Monitoring Server together?
3.6.8 What about the weather, can I tie weather related data into GNU remotecontrol and Remote Monitoring Server?
3.6.9 Mobile access for GNU remotecontrol?
3.6.10 Do I need to install anything to my computer?
3.6.11 How many different users will be able to use GNU remotecontrol?
3.6.12 Encryption.....is GNU remotecontrol safe to use with my network?
3.6.13 Is GNU remotecontrol compatible with BACnet?
3.6.14 Can I use GNU remotecontrol to help Test & Balance my HVAC system?
3.7 Future Capabilities
4 GNU remotecontrol & BACnet
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Associated Specifications
4.3 Going Forward
5 Tax Benefit
6 System Architecture and Concepts
6.1 Web Server
6.1.1 Security Model
6.1.1.1 Access Control - File System
6.1.1.2 Access Control - Web Server
6.1.2 Requirements
6.1.3 Options
6.1.4 Configuration
6.2 Database Server
6.2.1 Security Model
6.2.2 Requirements
6.2.3 Options
6.2.4 Configuration
6.2.5 Translations
6.3 Remote Monitoring Server
6.3.1 Security Model
6.3.2 Requirements
6.3.3 Options
6.3.4 Configuration
6.4 Nagios Plugins
6.4.1 Proliphix Alarms
6.4.2 Thermostat Plugin - check_ubicom
6.4.2.1 Syntax Example - IMPERIAL
6.4.2.2 Result Example - IMPERIAL
6.4.2.3 Syntax Example - METRIC
6.4.2.4 Result Example - METRIC
6.4.2.5 Syntax Example - Macro
6.4.3 Weather Plugin - check_weather
6.4.3.1 Syntax Example - IMPERIAL
6.4.3.2 Result Example - IMPERIAL
6.4.3.3 Syntax Example - METRIC
6.4.3.4 Result Example - METRIC
6.4.3.5 Syntax Example - Macro
6.5 Email Server
6.5.1 Security Model
6.5.2 Requirements
6.5.3 Options
6.5.4 Configuration
6.6 Frequently Asked Questions
6.6.1 What is RMS?
6.6.2 What is Remote Monitoring Server?
6.6.3 Why do I need RMS?
6.6.4 What will RMS do for me?
6.6.5 How do I use RMS?
6.6.6 Does a Remote Monitoring Server do graphing?
6.6.7 Mobile access for RMS?
6.6.8 Is it difficult to use RMS?
6.6.9 How many emails/SMS messages will I get?
6.6.10 How many different email addresses will you send me notifications to?
6.6.11 Can I use RMS to help Test & Balance my HVAC system?
6.6.12 Do I need RMS?
6.6.13 Really, how do I know that I need RMS?
7 Usage Instructions
7.1 Browser Selection
7.1.1 IE Browser Setting Requirement
7.2 Time
7.3 admin.php
7.3.1 Purpose
7.3.2 Fields
7.3.3 Usage
7.4 index.php
7.4.1 Purpose
7.4.2 Fields
7.4.3 Usage
7.4.3.1 Adding a Thermostat
7.4.3.2 View Settings
7.4.3.3 Write to a Thermostat - Date and Time
7.4.3.4 Write to a Thermostat - HVAC Settings
7.4.3.5 Object Parameters
7.5 transactionhistory.php
7.5.1 Purpose
7.5.2 Fields
7.5.3 Usage
7.6 Troubleshooting
8 Usage Recommendations
8.1 Start Small
8.2 Strongly Encouraged
8.3 Food for Thought
9 Use Case Scenarios
9.1 Scenario 1 - Building Maintenance
9.2 Scenario 2 - Office Worker
9.3 Scenario 3 - Property Manager
9.4 Scenario 4 - Restaurant Operations
9.5 Scenario 5 - Certified Energy Manager
9.6 Scenario 6 - Industrial Manufacturing Facility
9.7 Scenario 7 - Facility Manager
9.8 Scenario 8 - External Information
9.9 Scenario 9 - Financial Manager
9.10 Scenario 10 - Automated Meter Reading
9.11 Scenario 11 - Smart Metering
9.12 Scenario 12 - Utility Providers
9.13 Summary
10 Implementation Cost
11 Roadmap
11.1 Interoperability
11.2 HVAC Original Equipment Manufacturer - Feature Addition
11.3 HVAC Aftermarket Equipment Manufacturer - Feature Addition
11.4 Cost Benefit Analysis
12 REFERENCE
12.1 Cabling 101
12.1.1 Introduction
12.1.2 Cable
12.1.3 Grounding
12.1.4 Installation
12.1.5 Termination
12.1.6 Testing
12.1.7 Usage Notes
12.1.8 Cautionary
12.2 Power over Ethernet (PoE) 101
12.2.1 Introduction
12.2.2 Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE)
12.2.3 Powered Device (PD)
12.2.4 Midspan
12.2.5 Endspan
12.2.6 Usage Notes
12.2.7 Cautionary
13 Contributors
14 GNU Free Documentation License
Appendix A GNU Free Documentation License
GNU remotecontrol
*****************
This manual is for GNU remotecontrol (version 1.1, 29 September 2013).
1 Overview
**********
GNU remotecontrol is a web application serving as a management tool for
multiple IP enabled HVAC thermostats (device), and other Building
Automation devices. The purpose of GNU remotecontrol is to read from
and write to multiple IP enabled thermostats all at one time.
The GNU remotecontrol framework is designed to work with any IP
enabled HVAC thermostat, but can be easily developed to operate any
number of networked devices. This framework is built with cURL
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CURL), PHP
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP), and MySQL
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySQL). Its system architecture is
enabled on a server-client principle, where users can login to the
server using a web browser to manage multiple remote devices from a
single web interface. The GNU remotecontrol framework was developed to
work in combination with a Remote Monitoring Server, which monitors
configurable device parameters and can generate automatic system
responses and alerts. If required, the GNU remotecontrol is both
scalable and distributable over multiple computers serving different
roles in the HVAC or remote device management framework. The Proliphix
(http://www.proliphix.com/) IP thermostat (currently the only true IP
enabled HVAC thermostat on the market) was used to develop the GNU
remotecontrol web application. The Application Programming Interface
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface) (API)
*Proliphix IP Devices HTTP API, Revision 1.8* is used to read from and
write to the Object Identification (OID) numbers defined in the
Proliphix API for the Proliphix HVAC thermostat device.
The intended structure of this documentation is to help you achieve
an understanding of *why* you need/want to use GNU remotecontrol and
instruction for *how* to use GNU remotecontrol. Our research during the
development of GNU remotecontrol found users operated best when they
were given the opportunity to gain a high-level understanding of all
the technologies associated with GNU remotecontrol. This documentation
is written as a combined reference manual and technical manual for GNU
remotecontrol. The *Scope* section contains a listing of the minimum
recommended chapter reading, per user role. Each section in *System
Architecture and Concepts* contains instructions for *Security Model*,
any *Options* that are recommended, *Requirements* to run that
technology, and *Configuration* of that technology.
We recognize this documentation contains a lot of material. The
documentation is segmented for you to select what you need to read to
quickly and easily learn about and start using GNU remotecontrol. It is
our hope you find this documentation contains all of the information
you need to successfully and effortlessly use GNU remotecontrol. With
that said, we give you GNU remotecontrol.
2 Scope
*******
The scope of this documentation is to address the 3 roles (functional
disciplines) that interact daily in the usage of GNU remotecontrol;
*Information Technology*, *Energy Management*, and *End User*. A 4th
role, *Financial Management*, is a role that operates in the Cost
Benefit Analysis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost%E2%80%93benefit_analysis) and in
reviews to evaluate facility improvement opportunities. The
documentation contains information pertinent to each role. The intended
end result is to help equip each role with the necessary definitions
and reference information to further high-level communication among the
roles.
The following list is the minimum recommended chapter reading, per
role.
2.1 Information Technology
==========================
* *Note Key Principles::.
* *Note System Architecture and Concepts::.
* *Note Usage Instructions::.
* *Note Usage Recommendations::.
2.2 Energy Management
=====================
* *Note Key Principles::.
* *Note GNU remotecontrol & BACnet::.
* *Note Tax Benefit::.
* *Note System Architecture and Concepts::.
* *Note Usage Instructions::.
* *Note Usage Recommendations::.
* *Note Use Case Scenarios::.
* *Note Implementation Cost::.
* *Note Roadmap::.
* *Note REFERENCE::.
2.3 End User
============
* *Note Key Principles::.
* *Note Usage Instructions::.
* *Note Usage Recommendations::.
* *Note Use Case Scenarios::.
2.4 Financial Management
========================
* *Note Key Principles::.
* *Note GNU remotecontrol & BACnet::.
* *Note Tax Benefit::.
* *Note System Architecture and Concepts::.
* *Note Usage Instructions::.
* *Note Usage Recommendations::.
* *Note Use Case Scenarios::.
* *Note Implementation Cost::.
* *Note Roadmap::.
* *Note REFERENCE::.
3 Key Principles
****************
3.1 Present Capabilities
========================
GNU remotecontrol is designed to substantially reduce the time & effort
necessary to remotely manage multiple IP thermostats, while
significantly increasing your productivity through its many useful and
time saving features. The User Interface is no more difficult than
using any other web application involving simple check boxes and
pull-down menus. GNU remotecontrol, combined with the Remote Monitoring
Server, work together as a complete HVAC Energy Management system. GNU
remotecontrol more than pays for itself by saving time/effort in manual
labor for managing all resources individually.....and then some.
3.2 HVAC Thermostat
===================
It is necessary to understand the design and usage intent of the HVAC
thermostat to fully grasp the design and usage intent of GNU
remotecontrol.
The HVAC thermostat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostat) is
often a combination of either a relay
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay) or a semiconductor device
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device) to have circuits
either opened or closed, to switch the device either off or on.
Examples of this include heating, cooling, or a fan. The addition of a
scheduling option to turn any of these items off or on at a certain
date/time does make it more practical of a device in terms of managing
day-to-day operation of a HVAC system. Adding in the ability to track
run time duration for heating, cooling, or a fan help energy efficiency
measurements. The final addition of remote access, through the
traditional IP enabled data network, takes the HVAC thermostat to an
interconnected device capable of multiple read/write operating
functions. The cable from the thermostat to the HVAC equipment is solid
core 18-AWG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge), either
4 or 8 separately jacketed wires, depending on system capability, all
contained within a protective jacket.
3.3 Thinking by Talking
=======================
GNU remotecontrol is here to help you make your Energy Management
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_management) strategy easier and
more productive. GNU remotecontrol is here to help simplify your life,
not make it more complicated. Contact
(https://savannah.gnu.org/mail/?group=remotecontrol) the mailing list
if you are stuck or cannot figure out the best option for your GNU
remotecontrol framework. The chances are the answer you need is
something we have already worked through. We would be happy to help you
by discussing your situation with you.
3.4 Choosing Decision Makers
============================
You will most likely need to work with others who have a different
skill set than you do to develop and implement an effective Energy
Management strategy. It is necessary to carefully plan for your
selection of the decision makers you choose to work with. Choosing
decision makers that are capable to run your HVAC and IT systems is
paramount to the success of your system performance.
3.4.1 HVAC
----------
Being a licensed Professional Engineer
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_engineer) does not make that
person a Certified Energy Manager
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Energy_Manager) (CEM). They are
separate qualifications, each with their own requirements. Go with a
Certified Energy Manager to help you determine if you qualify for any
tax benefit for commercial building being rated as energy efficient.
Even if you don't qualify for a tax benefit, it is highly likely you
will find a very beneficial set of methods to increase your Energy
Management strategies that makes paying the Certified Energy Manger
well worth the expense.
3.4.2 Information Technology
----------------------------
Serving in an IT role does not necessarily make one qualified do an
end-to-end design of an IT system. Relevant certifications help to know
if one is really capable to do what they say they can do. Experience is
probably the strongest credential one can have for being capable to run
an IT system. Simply put, operation does not equal design. They are
separate qualifications, each with their own requirements.
3.4.3 Conclusion
----------------
Look to your *Cost Benefit Analysis* for decision making on how you
need to design and operate your Energy Management strategy.
3.5 Security Considerations
===========================
The following is a list of links to information that will greatly help
you plan for the network implementation and configuration of your
Energy Management strategy.
3.5.1 Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition
----------------------------------------------
SCADA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCADA) speaks to the industrial
side of HVAC automation.
3.5.2 Industrial Control System
-------------------------------
ICS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Control_Systems) speaks to
industrial production facilities.
3.5.3 System Administration-Audit-Network Security
--------------------------------------------------
SANS (http://www.sans.org/) specializes in Internet Security training.
3.6 Frequently Asked Questions
==============================
3.6.1 Why do we call it GNU remotecontrol?
------------------------------------------
This code was originally called *JUT*....."*J*ust *U*se *T*his" to
represent the intention of this software automation to take the
complicated and make it very, very simple, from a user perspective. The
name changed to GNU remotecontrol, when code was released under the GNU
license.
3.6.2 Why do I need GNU remotecontrol?
--------------------------------------
If you have IP thermostats, you know that it takes time/effort to keep
your energy usage down and control your climate for your comfort. This
time and effort is increased with each remote device or HVAC unit that
you want to administrate. GNU remotecontrol helps you spend less
time/effort administrating your IP thermostats, provides automated
record keeping of what changed, who changed it, and when it was
changed. GNU remotecontrol deployment helps keep your energy usage as
low as possible.
3.6.3 How do I know who changed what?
-------------------------------------
Review the access logs you have enabled for your Web Server, your
Operating System, and all of the other technologies that achieve user
validation of a web application. Technologies that are time tested,
tried and true, that you can count on. No need to reinvent the wheel,
use what works very well when possible.
3.6.4 What will GNU remotecontrol do for me?
--------------------------------------------
Free up your time/effort for starters. Also, enable you to know who did
what to your IP thermostats when GNU remotecontrol was used to change
your IP thermostats. Finally, your GNU remotecontrol application can
help you minimize your energy costs.
3.6.5 Can I figure my energy usage for my HVAC units?
-----------------------------------------------------
The IP thermostat will very much help with that measurement.
3.6.6 How do I use GNU remotecontrol?
-------------------------------------
Pretty easy, actually. Select the IP thermostats you want to change the
settings of.....make the change.....and that's it. You can easily see
the time/effort you save changing the air conditioning from 75oF to
73oF for several IP thermostats, all at once! Then, imagine changing
your setback schedule somehow on top of that, for say 30 different IP
thermostats, all at once!
3.6.7 Can I use GNU remotecontrol and Remote Monitoring Server together?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, yes. Think of GNU remotecontrol as writing to your IP thermostats,
and Remote Monitoring Server reading information about your IP
thermostats. The two go hand in hand. They are intended to work
together.
3.6.8 What about the weather, can I tie weather related data into GNU remotecontrol and Remote Monitoring Server?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes. Use your Remote Monitoring Server to collect information about the
weather from International Weather Services for the location of your IP
thermostat. That will tell you a great deal about the quality of your
Energy Management strategy.
3.6.9 Mobile access for GNU remotecontrol?
------------------------------------------
Yes, you can access GNU remotecontrol using your cell phone Internet
browser.
3.6.10 Do I need to install anything to my computer?
----------------------------------------------------
No. GNU remotecontrol is a WC3 (http://www.w3.org/standards/) compliant
web application. More times than not, your network is ready to go as-is.
3.6.11 How many different users will be able to use GNU remotecontrol?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can set up different user accounts, but the nature of an IP
thermostat means the people touching it be very clear with each other
as to how they want to set the IP thermostat.
3.6.12 Encryption.....is GNU remotecontrol safe to use with my network?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We recommend you use a High Grade (AES-256 bit) encryption to secure
the connection from your computer to your GNU remotecontrol server and
verify the identity of your server with your own signed SSL
Certificate. The connection from your computer to your IP thermostat is
not changed from your normal connection to your Proliphix IP thermostat.
3.6.13 Is GNU remotecontrol compatible with BACnet?
---------------------------------------------------
Yes. *Note GNU remotecontrol & BACnet::.
3.6.14 Can I use GNU remotecontrol to help Test & Balance my HVAC system?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes. Remote Monitoring Server & GNU remotecontrol work together to help
you do just this. Recorded data of your HVAC system's usage and outdoor
weather information is priceless for testing & balancing. The review of
recorded data offers considerable cost savings, in both time and
effort, when optimizing your system setup. Additionally, you can reduce
the number of people necessary to do the testing and balancing down to
1 person.
3.7 Future Capabilities
=======================
The next logical step is to expand GNU remotecontrol and become
certified with industrial HVAC, lighting control, access control, and
fire detection technologies. The BACnet communication protocol is an
excellent candidate for connection to the GNU remotecontrol framework.
*Note GNU remotecontrol & BACnet::. The MODBUS
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modbus) communication protocol may also
be implemented at a future date, but demand for this capability
enhancement is not clearly understood.
4 GNU remotecontrol & BACnet
****************************
4.1 Introduction
================
The BACnet (http://www.bacnet.org/) data communication protocol, for
Building Automation and Control Networks, was developed by ASHRAE
(http://www.ashrae.org/), the building technology society. The
intention is to enable interoperability between automation and control
systems by different vendors, used in the building industry.
4.2 Associated Specifications
=============================
BACnet conformance requires a Protocol Implementation Conformance
Statement (PICS) (http://www.bacnet.org/DL-Docs/), which GNU
remotecontrol does not currently have. This is because we have no user
requests to develop GNU remotecontrol in this direction. However, the
PHP code can be adapted to utilize the XML language to effect
communication with BACnet systems and compliant devices. GNU
remotecontrol is capable of processing packets comprising the BACnet
model and its Object types, by utilizing PHP code to parse the data and
handle inputs/outputs and network communications as BACnet requires.
The following is a list of information that will greatly help you
plan for the usage of the data captured in your Energy Management
strategy.
* *Extensible Markup Language* - XML
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML)
_"The design goals of XML emphasize simplicity, generality,
and usability over the Internet. It is a textual data format with
strong support via Unicode for the languages of the world.
Although the design of XML focuses on documents, it is widely used
for the representation of arbitrary data structures, for example
in web services."_
_"XML documents consist entirely of characters from the
Unicode repertoire. Except for a small number of specifically
excluded control characters, any character defined by Unicode may
appear within the content of an XML document."_
* *Representational State Transfer* - REST
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer)
_"Unlike SOAP-based web services, there is no "official"
standard for RESTful web services. This is because REST is an
architecture, unlike SOAP, which is a protocol. Even though REST
is not a standard, a RESTful implementation such as the Web can
use standards like HTTP, URI, XML, etc."_
* *BACnet* ADDENDA AND COMPANION STANDARDS
(http://www.bacnet.org/Addenda/index.html)
* Addendum 135-2008al
(http://www.bacnet.org/Addenda/Add-135-2010al-PPR3-Draft-4_chair_approved.pdf)
* Addendum 2004-135c
(http://www.bacnet.org/Addenda/Add-2004-135c.pdf)
* Addendum 135-2010am
(http://www.bacnet.org/Addenda/Add-135-2010am-APR1-1_chair-approved.pdf)
* *The Native PHP* XML Parser
(http://www.php.net/manual/en/book.xml.php)
4.3 Going Forward
=================
The roadmap of GNU remotecontrol is a commitment to International
standards and protocols for Information Technology to provide
availability, relevance, transparency, and maintenance of the GNU
remotecontrol framework. (*Note Roadmap::.) The BACnet XML Working
Group (http://www.bacnet.org/WG/XML/index.html) is an excellent example
of these attributes.
5 Tax Benefit
*************
Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2006-26
(http://www.irs.gov/irb/2006-26_IRB/ar11.html), *Notice 2006-52*,
_Deduction for Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings_ defines the tax
deduction allowed for the hardware and software required for GNU
remotecontrol to operate in commercial buildings in the United States.
The costs for GNU remotecontrol are 100% tax deductible.....if you meet
these requirements. The tax deduction, combined with spending less
money for energy due to an improved Energy Management strategies, means
GNU remotecontrol more than pays for itself.
6 System Architecture and Concepts
**********************************
The following pieces of the GNU remotecontrol architecture are
*necessary*:
* Web Server
* Database Server
The following pieces of the GNU remotecontrol architecture are
*optional*:
* Remote Monitoring Server
* Email Server
The following versions for the GNU remotecontrol architecture are
*required*:
* PHP 5.3.10
* php5-curl 5.3.10
* php5-mysqlnd 5.3.10
* MySQL-server 5.5.32
GNU remotecontrol runs without difficulty on either Linux or Windows.
6.1 Web Server
==============
Please make certain you have the *required* software versions, as
listed in the beginning of this section.
6.1.1 Security Model
--------------------
GNU remotecontrol is configured with the minimum level of security
necessary for a Web Server (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_server).
You are responsible for setting up your security on your Web Server.
6.1.1.1 Access Control - File System
....................................
It is *STRONGLY RECOMMENDED* you edit your GNU remotecontrol file
system ownership
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_permissions#Classes) and
permissions
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system_permissions#Permissions).
This editing occurs with the file system.
The necessary changes for both USER
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_identifier_(Unix)) and GROUP
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_ID) ownership of the GNU
remotecontrol file system achieve a good level of security and
protection from inadvertent file changes.
Note: The group *apache* is used here to denote the group account
that your Web Server (apache in this example) is running under.
You must use the corresponding Web Server group name for your
particular installation and operating system, e.g. apache, httpd,
nobody, www-data, etc.
We recommended the following changes, as illustrated with both
numeric-notation
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_permissions#Numeric_notation) and
symbolic notation
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_permissions#Symbolic_notation):
* GNU remotecontrol web directories *ownership* can be
*root:root*, with *permissions* set at *0755* (- r w x r - x r -
x).
* GNU remotecontrol files *ownership* can be *root:root*, with
*permissions* set at *0644* (- r w - r - - r - -).
* GNU remotecontrol file *Common.php* must have *ownership* by
*root:apache*, with *permissions* set at *0640* (- r w - r - - - -
-).
6.1.1.2 Access Control - Web Server
...................................
The Web Server is configured with authentication restrictions for all
files in the GNU remotecontrol DocumentRoot. This restricts access to
the files of your GNU remotecontrol website to authenticated website
account users only. It is *STRONGLY RECOMMENDED* that connections to
Internet facing servers, or through any untrusted networks, are further
secured with SSL encryption.
It is also *STRONGLY RECOMMENDED* to completely prohibit access to
the GNU remotecontrol file *Common.php* through your Web Server, to
further protect your GNU remotecontrol Database login credentials. This
can be accomplished in either the Web Server configuration file or by
adding the following directive in an .htaccess
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Htaccess) file in the GNU remotecontrol
DocumentRoot:
order allow,deny
deny from all
6.1.2 Requirements
------------------
GNU remotecontrol can operate on any platform that can run PHP with
cURL and MySQL.
6.1.3 Options
-------------
GNU remotecontrol runs without any known problems on Apache
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_HTTP_Server) and IIS
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Information_Services). Running
GNU remotecontrol on a lightweight
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_lightweight_web_servers)
Web Server versus a complete
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_web_servers) Web Server is
possible, but not recommended. This is due to the security benefits of
a complete Web Server. Again, you are responsible for setting up your
security on your Web Server.
6.1.4 Configuration
-------------------
GNU remotecontrol will not work with anonymous users. This is because
of how GNU remotecontrol is designed and for security purposes. You
must add at least a single user in your GNU remotecontrol database
using the *admin.php* web page, which is checked against an identically
named user account that is configured in your website. GNU
remotecontrol authentication is aligned with Web Server authentication,
by keeping user names between the two identical. Please review the
section for the *admin.php* web page, for more information on this
requirement. Follow the configuration stated by the Web Server you so
choose to use.
Here is what you need to run GNU remotecontrol on Apache, *after*
you setup your security on your Web Server. This example Web Server
configuration provides an administrator user called tstat_admin having
access to *admin.php* and *all* other pages of the website. The
remaining users, tstat_test_user_1 *and* tstat_test_user_2, *cannot*
get to *admin.php*, though they can get to all other pages of the
website.
* *Apache sites-configuration:*
DocumentRoot /var/www/remotecontrol
Options FollowSymLinks -Indexes
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
allow from all
AuthType Basic
AuthName "GNU remotecontrol - User authentication required"
AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/.remotecontrol_passwd
Require user tstat_admin tstat_test_user_1 tstat_test_user_2
Require user tstat_admin
* *Settings necessary in your PHP configuration (php.ini):* register_globals = Off
auto_globals_jit = On
date.timezone = [THE TIMEZONE YOU PREFER]
6.2 Database Server
===================
Please make certain you have the *required* software versions, as
listed in the beginning of this section.
6.2.1 Security Model
--------------------
GNU remotecontrol is configured with the minimum level of security
necessary for a Database System
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_system). You are responsible for
setting up your security on your Database Server.
It is not necessary to leave the file `/src/dbscripts/iptstat.sql'
on your Database Server file system, after you initially run it to
setup your GNU remotecontrol database.
6.2.2 Requirements
------------------
Follow the configuration requirements stated by the Database System you
so choose to use.
GNU remotecontrol runs without any known problems on MySQL. Running
GNU remotecontrol on a lightweight
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-end_database#Small_Database_Systems)
Database Server versus a complete
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_relational_database_management_systems)
Database Server is possible, but not recommended. This is due to the
security benefits of a complete Database Server. Again, you are
responsible for setting up your security on your Database Server.
6.2.3 Options
-------------
It is important to consider the option of a Federated Database System
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federated_database_system) in
environments where GNU remotecontrol will operate with legacy databases
and existing datasets. This option provides the benefit of reducing
implementation costs and shortening deployment timescales, by
leveraging existing Database Systems to work with your GNU
remotecontrol database. You are not bound to only use MySQL for your
GNU remotecontrol. Thinking outside of the box here can help you find
innovative ways of implementing your GNU remotecontrol.
6.2.4 Configuration
-------------------
Follow the requirements stated by the Database System you so choose to
use.
There is a single database script, `/dbscripts/iptstat.sql'. This
script builds the GNU remotecontrol database. From there, you apply
your security model as you see fit.
Configure the file *Common.php* with the password you wish to setup
for your PHP to authenticate to your MySQL server. Edit the string
accordingly: `const ConnectionString = 'Host=localhost;DB=iptstat;UN=tstatuser;PW=Yell0w';'
6.2.5 Translations
------------------
All databases have a character set and collation setting that can be
configured to handle languages with special characters. The Character
Sets and Collations
(http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/charset-charsets.html) specify
what you can add to your tables. This does not have to be a global
setting. This can be table-specific or even field-specific.
GNU remotecontrol is built to display in any language you can get
into the database. You can also edit the contents, as you prefer, with
wording that is more appropriate for your end-users. This will help
ease your usage of GNU remotecontrol in multilingual environments.
6.3 Remote Monitoring Server
============================
Please make certain you have the *required* software versions, as
listed in the beginning of this section.
6.3.1 Security Model
--------------------
GNU remotecontrol is configured with the minimum level of security
necessary for a Remote Monitoring
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_monitoring) application. You are
responsible for setting up your security on your Remote Monitoring
Server.
6.3.2 Requirements
------------------
Follow the requirements stated by the Remote Monitoring application you
so choose to use.
6.3.3 Options
-------------
The question must be answered.....*why would you not monitor your
systems*? This is not a judgemental question, simply framing the
context of this section. This section has a list of *Frequently Asked
Questions*, at the end. If your answer contents you to not have a
Remote Monitoring Server, so be it. Perhaps you trust the decisions and
work of others enough to not bother with setting up a Remote Monitoring
Server. That is often a poor choice.
Running a Remote Monitoring Server is the easy part of having a
Remote Monitoring Server. The biggest decision you have to make
is.....* are you going to run it, or is someone else*? Then, and only
then, choose the technology combination you want to have for your
Remote Monitoring Server. Do not let your skill set alone decide what
is best for meeting your needs. Determine what you needs are, count the
cost, and then choose your technology.
*Popular Options*
* Nagios (http://www.nagios.org/)
* Solar Winds (http://www.solarwinds.com/)
* M/Monit (http://www.mmonit.com/)
Note: There are many, many other options to choose.
We have developed plugins for Nagios that quite nicely round out the
Energy Management strategy. Check out the *Nagios Plugins*.
6.3.4 Configuration
-------------------
Follow the configuration stated by the Remote Monitoring application
you so choose to use
6.4 Nagios Plugins
==================
We have developed 2 plugins to round out the GNU remotecontrol
Architecture. The function of these plugins is to capture and process
numerical characters from data obtained from your IP enabled thermostat
and RSS feeds for weather information out of doors. The measurements of
Temperature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature), Humidity
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidity), Wind-Speed
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_speed), Wind-Chill
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill), and Atmospheric (Barometric)
Pressure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barometric_pressure) help to
analyze your entire HVAC system and determine if your Energy Management
strategy is working for you. Other measurements can be added in as
preferred, as shared below.
6.4.1 Proliphix Alarms
----------------------
The need for the *Thermostat Plugin - check_ubicom* is better
understood when the limitations of the native Proliphix alarms are
examined. The Proliphix thermostat device has 4 alarms.
* Low Temperature
* High Temperature
* High Humidity
* Filter Change
Alarms in the thermostat device were considered for displaying in
GNU remotecontrol *index.php* or another web page not yet developed
(perhaps something like a GNU remotecontrol alarms.php web page).
Feedback from users during development of GNU remotecontrol showed
their preference is to be informed of alarms from a Remote Monitoring
Server notification. This approach also provides logging of all
monitored information, a feature not available in the thermostat device
itself.
The Temperature and Humidity alarms are already provided for in the
Nagios checks we have developed. The Filter Change alarm has various
pre-determined options to select; 10, 30, 60, 90, 120, 240, 365 Runtime
Days. This does not account for dust accumulating on a filter, should
the power be off to the thermostat device. This logic combination is
determined as insufficient to use for monitoring when to change the
filter of an HVAC system. Reasoning for this determination includes:
* Various pollutants enter filters at different times in
different ways.
* Allergens are more prevalent in the Spring compared to the
other seasons of the year.
* Dust is more common if a manufacturing facility has dust as a
by-product of manufacturing.
* Dust is generated from Wood Stoves and Fire Places. Heating
needs often change throughout the year.
* Dust Storms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_storm) are
common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust Storms require
additional filter inspections to make sure equipment will not be
damaged from improper ventilation.
* An end-user is the best person to determine when to change a
filter based upon the environmental conditions that may or may not
change.
The Proliphix API only supports reading these alarms, not setting an
alarm threshold or resetting an alarm event. The user must go to the
web page within the Proliphix thermostat device for setting an alarm
threshold or resetting an alarm event. Also, there is only a single
alarm issued per alarm type until the alarm type event is reset in the
thermostat device. This logic combination means a threshold may be
exceeded, return to an acceptable level for the user, and then be
exceeded again. This example is an excellent illustration of the value
gained by having a Remote Motoring Server, with its fully configurable
and flexible alarm functionality, watching your network, your devices,
and anything else you can monitor.
Finally, since the thermostat device has a threshold of how many
read events the unit can support per minute, we did not want to
overwhelm the device with multiple read events. An example of this
overwhelming of the device is:
* Having a separate web page, some where, for viewing these
alarms, after they are read from the thermostat device.
* Then, returning to the GNU remotecontrol *index.php* web page,
to see those alarms.....again.
* Then, going into the device web page, to clear the alarm
and/or adjust thresholds.
* Then, going back to the GNU remotecontrol *index.php* web
page, to see what an alarm reads.
* Then, going back into the separate web page, some where, to
see what an alarm reads.
The Proliphix API is quite distinct about this cautioning of too
many read events per minute through the Proliphix API. The combination
of the web server of the thermostat device and GNU remotecontrol
*index.php* is a proper approach to use and not overwhelm the
thermostat device. This approach caches the data and avoids repeated
Proliphix API calls to the Proliphix HVAC thermostat device.
6.4.2 Thermostat Plugin - check_ubicom
--------------------------------------
Please review the documentation provided with the source code for the
plugin for detailed usage instructions. The following is an outline of
the detailed instruction.
This plugin will attempt to read temperature and humidity from an IP
thermostat. Successful reads initially set the response to `STATE_OK'.
If the temperature or humidity falls outside the range set by the
`warn-temperature' or the `warn-humidity' arguments, then the response
is upgraded to `STATE_WARNING'. If the temperature or humidity falls
outside the range set by the `critical-temperature' or the
`critical-humidity' arguments, then the response is further upgraded to
`STATE_CRITICAL'. Failure to read both values (due to timeout or
parsing failure) results in a `STATE_UNKNOWN' response.
Temperature and humidity arguments may specify a minimum, a maximum,
or both. A ':' character must be used to follow a minimum or precede a
maximum. For example.....
6.4.2.1 Syntax Example - IMPERIAL
.................................
`check_ubicom -wt :70 -ct :90 -wh 10: -ch 5: -t 60 -I
example.remote-mon.com -u /status.shtml'
6.4.2.2 Result Example - IMPERIAL
.................................
* Returns CRITICAL if temperature is above 90F or humidity is
below 10%.
* Returns WARNING if temperature is above 70F or humidity is
below 5.
* Returns OK if temperature is 70F or below.
* Returns UNKNOWN if no response received within 60 seconds.
6.4.2.3 Syntax Example - METRIC
...............................
`check_ubicom -m -wt 0:30 --critical-temperature=-10:50 -I
example.remote-mon.com -u /status.shtml'
6.4.2.4 Result Example - METRIC
...............................
* Returns CRITICAL if temperature is below -10C or above 50C.
* Returns WARNING if temperature is below 0C or above 30C.
* Returns OK if temperature is from 0C to 30C.
* Returns UNKNOWN if no response received within 10 seconds.
6.4.2.5 Syntax Example - Macro
..............................
define command{
command_name check_ubicom_whatever
command_line $USER1$/check_ubicom -I 10.10.10.22 -p 8264
}
6.4.3 Weather Plugin - check_weather
------------------------------------
Please review the documentation provided with the source code for the
plugin for detailed usage instructions. The following is an outline of
the detailed instruction.
The check_weather plugin checks the wind-chill, wind-speed,
humidity, pressure, and temperature received from Yahoo! Weather RSS
Feed (http://developer.yahoo.com/weather/) for a single station code.
The return value is always OK or UNKNOWN.
You are certainly free to use any other RSS feed you prefer.
Examples of this include The Weather Channel (http://www.weather.com/)
and Weather Underground (http://www.wunderground.com/weather/api/). All
of these RSS feeds have free and paid options. Please carefully read
their provisions if you select to use their RSS feed.
The performance values returned by the check_weather plugin, *in
order*, are:
1. wind-chill (apparent temperature) in degrees F or degrees C
2. wind-speed in m.p.h. or km.p.h.
3. relative humidity in percent
4. barometric pressure in in.Hg or mm.Hg
5. current temperature in degrees F or degrees C
6.4.3.1 Syntax Example - IMPERIAL
.................................
`check_weather -z USTN0268'
6.4.3.2 Result Example - IMPERIAL
.................................
OK|52 8 88 29.68 52
1. 52 degrees Fahrenheit wind-chill
2. 8 mph wind-speed
3. 88% relative humidity
4. 29.7 in.Hg barometric pressure
5. 52 degrees Fahrenheit actual temperature
6.4.3.3 Syntax Example - METRIC
...............................
_check_weather -z USTN0268 -m_
6.4.3.4 Result Example - METRIC
...............................
OK|35 12.8748 88 753.872 35
1. 35 degrees Celsius wind-chill temperature
2. 12.8 km/h wind-speed
3. 88% relative humidity
4. 758.8 mm.Hg barometric pressure
5. 35 degrees Celsius actual temperature
6.4.3.5 Syntax Example - Macro
..............................
define command{
command_name check_weather_knox
command_line $USER1$/check_weather -z USTN0268
}
These plugins are developed under the Nagios License
(http://www.nagios.com/legal/).
6.5 Email Server
================
6.5.1 Security Model
--------------------
GNU remotecontrol is configured with the minimum level of security
necessary for an Email Server
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_server). You are responsible for
setting up your security on your Email Server.
6.5.2 Requirements
------------------
Follow the requirements stated by the Email Server application you so
choose to use with your RMS Server.
The email send function used in the GNU remotecontrol Architecture
is for sending email from your Remote Monitoring Server to you, using
SMTP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMTP). The mail send function will
use the server's Mail Transfer Agent (MTA
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_transfer_agent)). Requirements for
High Availability of mail sending necessitate the configuration of a
secondary MTA to provide service redundancy. You will need to have your
own registered Domain Name with its MX record
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MX_record), to be able to send email
messages directly to recipients and not be blocked by various Internet
Service Providers (ISPs), for fear of spam.
6.5.3 Options
-------------
Many ISPs block outgoing packets through port 25. This occurs as a
matter of course to minimize spam. If you ISP is blocking port 25, then
you have the option.....and is *STRONGLY RECOMMENDED* for security
purposes.....to configure your MTA to use SSL/TLS encryption when
sending messages to remote mail servers (SMTPS
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smtps)). This configuration would
normally use a different port to port 25 for outgoing messages,
overcoming the problem of blocked port 25. If your server is not
operating under a registered Domain Name, then you have no option but
to use a 3rd party SMTP service offered by different ISPs (e.g. DynDNS
Email, Gmail, etc.) to relay messages from your RMS server to the
intended recipients, via your email account on the 3rd party server.
Do yourself a big favor and become very, very clear on these 3 items:
* Mail Delivery Agent
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Delivery_Agent)
* Mail Transfer Agent
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_transfer_agent) (Mail Relay)
* Mail User Agent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_user_agent)
Then, do yourself a *very* big favor and become *very* familiar with
these 4 items:
* Email Authentication
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_authentication)
* S/MIME (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME)
* SMTP Authentication
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMTP_Authentication)
* Transport Layer Security
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security)
Now, having a familiarity understanding of these items will equip
you to have a very successful talk with your Email Administrator, or
your Internet Service Provider, or a Mail Relay Provider. That
administrator will ask you several questions about how you want email
handled for your GNU remotecontrol. Prepare beforehand for that
discussion. The discussion will go much better if you are familiar with
and understand these items.
6.5.4 Configuration
-------------------
Follow the configuration stated by the MTA application you so choose to
use and the settings provided by any 3rd party SMTP service.
The Remote Monitoring Server can be configured to send notifications
to any number of different recipients. It is advisable that you
configure the access control list of your Email Server to only allow
messages to be sent from the user under which your Remote Monitoring
Server is running, as an added security precaution.
The email you probably want to receive is that which will notify you
of a condition occurring. You are notified by email messages sent to
you by your Remote Monitoring Server. You do not have to keep these
email notifications after you are notified, nor do you need to set any
reports to be sent to you in more emails. All of the information you
would ever need about notifications, alerts and their history, is being
stored on your Remote Monitoring Server, either in log files or in a
database. The benefit of receiving an email alert is to be notified in
real time, when you need to look into an exception event to mitigate
its impact. The benefit of this awareness is priceless.
Note: Don't use an SMS address when sending email to cell phones.
Use the cell phone's email address via the Free Email To SMS
Gateways (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-to-sms/). Major
United States Carriers offer this to both email and SMS users.
Look for the same options of the cell phone provider's of the land
in which you live. You will be much happier using the cell phone's
email address, as you can easily track if the message went out or
not, versus wondering about the SMS system.....in which knowing is
often a mystery. Finally, it is 1 less system to work with.
6.6 Frequently Asked Questions
==============================
6.6.1 What is RMS?
------------------
RMS is the acronym of Remote Monitoring Server.
6.6.2 What is Remote Monitoring Server?
---------------------------------------
A Remote Monitoring Server regularly keeps track of your chosen
networked device (computers, email servers, web servers, routers, IP
thermostats, et cetera) and notifies you with alerts of any problems
when they occur.
6.6.3 Why do I need RMS?
------------------------
If you want to know the status of any IP addressable device, you need
to monitor it. If you do not have the time/effort available to stand
there and watch the device yourself, you need something to
automatically monitor it and record the results for you to review at
your leisure. Ideally, that Remote Monitoring Server will promptly
notify you of anything occurring that you have defined as a problem. An
automated technology that remotely monitors your equipment, commonly
referred to as....._stuff_.....and alerts you when there is a problem.
This is RMS.
6.6.4 What will RMS do for me?
------------------------------
Watch your "stuff" and tell you when your "stuff" has a problem. It
logs the results of the monitoring of your "stuff" for you to review in
a web page based format. That will help you figure out very quickly if
something is wrong and what is wrong with your "stuff".
6.6.5 How do I use RMS?
-----------------------
Pretty easy, actually. Setup your Remote Monitoring Server and decide
what network and devices you want monitored. From there, you receive an
email and/or SMS message to your cell phone when there is a problem.
6.6.6 Does a Remote Monitoring Server do graphing?
--------------------------------------------------
Yes, it produces graphs providing a visual indication of the
measurements taken, in configurable scale and units of measurement.
6.6.7 Mobile access for RMS?
----------------------------
Yes, you can access your RMS server using your cell phone Internet
browser.
6.6.8 Is it difficult to use RMS?
---------------------------------
No more difficult than receiving an email or SMS message when an alert
occurs. Reports of historical events are available on the RMS served
website, which includes a summary dashboard, as well as detailed log
tables and graphs.
6.6.9 How many emails/SMS messages will I get?
----------------------------------------------
More than enough for you to know if and when there is a problem. A
notification system is almost limitless in how it can be configured for
you. A good example is not receiving all SMS message in the middle of
the night, but only the SMS messages you conclude you must have 'round
the clock. When you receive a notification, how many times you receive
a subsequent notification for the same failure, and who receives that
notifications.....all set up as you want.
6.6.10 How many different email addresses will you send me notifications to?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Often, there is a primary and a secondary person in a monitoring
notification. Each person has an email address and an SMS address,
receiving email and SMS notifications to each address.....as you
prefer. Or, it is sent to a Distribution List. The combination of
options are plentiful to send email, rest assured.
6.6.11 Can I use RMS to help Test & Balance my HVAC system?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Yes. RMS & GNU remotecontrol work together to help you do just this.
Having recorded data for your system usage and outdoors weather
information is priceless for testing & balancing. It offers
considerable cost savings, in both time and effort, to review recorded
data to optimize your system setup. Additionally, you can reduce the
number of people necessary to do the testing and balancing down to 1
person.
6.6.12 Do I need RMS?
---------------------
Not to sound silly, but RMS prevents a mess. It is impossible to
consciously improve anything without first measuring it. You may
stumble upon a way to improve it, but is that a pro-active approach to
managing anything? Of course not. To help improve things, RMS helps by
monitoring the status your resources. The unknown things of life can
crop in and cause problems. The faster you know about a problem, the
faster you can stop any damage that problem may cause. RMS helps you
take advantage of the opportunity to improve how you manage things, so
the chance of a problem returning becomes less likely.
6.6.13 Really, how do I know that I need RMS?
---------------------------------------------
If you worry about your "stuff", and your "stuff" has an IP address,
you need RMS.
7 Usage Instructions
********************
It is our hope the preceding chapters have given you the opportunity to
gain a high-level understanding of all the technologies associated with
GNU remotecontrol. You are now ready to learn how to use GNU
remotecontrol.
Tool Tips (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooltip) are present on a
few of the form controls in GNU remotecontrol. Most GUI web browsers
require UTF-8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8) to display Tool
Tips. Therefore, some characters of some display languages may not
properly render in the Tool Tips. There are 2 ways to resolve this
problem.
* Change the word in the GNU remotecontrol database for the said
Tool Tip to either another word, an abbreviation of the word, or
an acronym of the word.
* Change the encoding of all of the GNU remotecontrol web pages
*and* the GNU remotecontrol database to the encoding used by your
GUI web browser.
Please see the section below for more information regarding *Browser
Selection*.
7.1 Browser Selection
=====================
GNU remotecontrol works with the following browsers:
* Firefox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox)
* Chrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Chrome)
* Chromium
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_%28web_browser%29)
* Opera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_browser)
* Internet Explorer
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer) (IE)
IE, though one of the worlds earlier graphical
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_web_browser) options for a
web browser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser) and is credited
with helping to grow the Internet past text browsing
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_web_browsers), simply changes
too much and too often to deal with all of the inconsistencies of the
browser not being compliant with International Standards
(http://www.w3.org/standards/agents/browsers) of the World Wide Web.
Please review the various *Use Case Scenarios* prior to reading how
to go about using GNU remotecontrol. These examples will greatly help
you to see the value of using GNU remotecontrol.
7.1.1 IE Browser Setting Requirement
------------------------------------
There is a change you must make to your IE settings, if you are going
to use this browser with GNU remotecontrol. This is necessary because
IE ignores the meta tag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_element)
charset attribute of *UTF-8*. IE uses the Windows meta tag setting,
which defaults to the *Western European* meta tag charset attribute.
This necessary change is very easy to make. Simply switch the encoding
setting of IE to UTF-8. This change is accomplished using a mouse
right-click within any web page displayed using IE, select *Encoding*,
then select *Unicode (UTF-8)*. You only have to do this once, as IE
will save this setting for you.
7.2 Time
========
This section is quite important, perhaps the most important of all. The
absence of all devices being set to the same time often results in many
problems, problems which are often catastrophic in nature. We have
written this section to try to eliminate Clock Synchronization
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_synchronization) errors from
hindering the efficiency of your Energy Management strategy.
The definition of Time can mean many things to many people. We
define Time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time) as _a dimension in
which events can be ordered from the past through the present into the
future, and the measure of durations of events and the intervals
between them_. Date is a collection of time. Daylight Savings Time
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time) is the most common
occurrence of Time Change (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_change).
Time Dilation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_dilation) is not a
problem with HVAC operation, nor is the Hafele Keating Effect
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafele%E2%80%93Keating_experiment), as
the facility is not traveling.
The biggest problem with having multiple clocks is Clock Drift
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_drift) and the necessary correction
for Delta T (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-T) to account for
Terrestrial Time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_Time). This
Clock Drift problem is globally resolved when Daylight Savings Time
occurs. The time standard the majority of the world uses is Coordinated
Universal Time
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time), often
referred to as *UTC*. This time standard is achieved by the Atomic
Clock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_clock) delivering
International Atomic Time
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Atomic_Time).
Examples of how time differences can cause damage and harm people
are in a manufacturing facility
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time#Complexity) and
while using medical equipment. Awareness during the Daylight Savings
Time change is the easiest way to avert any unforeseen problems.
Remember, even if you don't live in a location that observes Daylight
Savings Time, there is still a time correction that occurs to resolve
Delta T. Finally, you may have newly installed equipment that was
incorrectly configured during installation and erroneously activates
the hourly time change when Daylight Savings Time occurs.
We decided to align the time of the thermostat to the time of the
GNU remotecontrol server, and have the Time Zone
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone) of each thermostat as a
required field in the thermostat profile. The Time Zone information
lives in the GNU remotecontrol database, in the *timezoneoffset* table,
as a Greenwich Mean Time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmt) (GMT)
offset (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UTC_time_offsets). Please
read the sections for GNU remotecontrol *index.php*, explaining the
*Time Zone Offset* field, and the section *Write to a Thermostat - Date
and Time* for more information about how we have accomplished this
action. The capability to use Database Management to manage your
thermostats is very much improved by having the Time Zone information
as a field in your GNU remotecontrol database.
We originally developed code to enable setting each thermostat to a
specifically different time, but decided against using that option.
Setting each thermostat to a different time would defeat achieving
Clock Synchronization, resulting in loads of confusion when comparing
your HVAC logged data with logged data from other sources, such as
Weather Services, other Building Automation technologies, and Network
Security.
*Reference Information*
* Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNTP)
* Network Time Protocol (NTP)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Time_Protocol)
* NTP Server Misuse and Abuse
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTP_server_misuse_and_abuse)
* NIST Authenticated NTP Service
(http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/auth-ntp.cfm)
So, all you have to do is make certain the time on your GNU
remotecontrol server is set to the time you prefer. Then, save yourself
a lot of hassle and set the time on your devices every month by using
GNU remotecontrol. Finally, use GNU remotecontrol to change any IP
enabled thermostat during the Daylight Savings Time change. This will
make certain all of your thermostats are correct and have all of your
logged data match up properly when comparing by time.
7.3 admin.php
=============
7.3.1 Purpose
-------------
The name of this web page is *Administration*. It is generated from the
*admin.php* file. This web page provides User and Group Management in
the GNU remotecontrol application.
You must add a user account by way of GNU remotecontrol *admin.php*
before going to GNU remotecontrol *index.php*. Please see
*Configuration* of the *Web Server*, for more information on this
requirement.
7.3.2 Fields
------------
*-User Accounts-*
These are the GNU remotecontrol user identifiers, that are unique to
GNU remotecontrol.
* *User Name* - The GNU remotecontrol user account name.
* *Maximum # Thermostats* - The maximum number of thermostats
allowed for that user account.
* *Language* - The Display Language for that user account for
*index.php*, *admin.php*, and *transactionhistory.php*. Display
Language preference is persistent, per user account. This
preference is stored in the GNU remotecontrol database, in the
*user* table.
*-Groups-*
These are the GNU remotecontrol group identifiers, that are unique
to GNU remotecontrol.
* *Group Name* - The GNU remotecontrol group name.
* *Description* - The description of the GNU remotecontrol group
name.
7.3.3 Usage
-----------
Add GNU remotecontrol user accounts with the *exact same name* you
setup the user accounts in your Web Server. Edit and Delete GNU
remotecontrol user accounts from this web page, as well. Security to
access this web page is completely handled by the Web Server and the
Operating System running your Web Server. You need to restrict access
to this web page, to only allow the user accounts you want to be able
to Add/Edit/Delete any other GNU remotecontrol user accounts.
Add GNU remotecontrol groups, as you prefer. Each thermostat *must*
be a member of a group. Each thermostat can only be a member of a
*single* group.
We added a means of user control to this web page, per a request
received during our design of GNU remotecontrol. The demand for this
feature is the desire to increase awareness of the need to also setup
Remote Monitoring for a newly added thermostat. The intent of this
feature is to provide a check and balance for all roles that use GNU
remotecontrol. Imagine adding a thermostat to your facility and
forgetting to setup monitoring of that thermostat, only to find out
after a month or so has passed you have no information collected for
that newly added thermostat. This restriction helps to remind you to
setup monitoring of that thermostat when you add more thermostats to
your facility. You set the total number of thermostats each user
account is allowed to whatever you prefer. This collectively provides
for a separation of duties between the GNU remotecontrol administrator
and the GNU remotecontrol user. It very much helps to structure change
management in your environment between the different people in your
organization.
7.4 index.php
=============
7.4.1 Purpose
-------------
The name of this web page is *Home*. It is generated from the
*index.php* file. This web page provides the ability to manage your
individual thermostats, all at one time.
Remember, you must have *at least 1 user account* entered in
*admin.php*, in the *User Accounts* section, *before* going to
*index.php*, in order for things to work. Please see *Configuration* of
*admin.php*, for more information on this requirement.
7.4.2 Fields
------------
Field Sorting is available for most fields of the Thermostat Profile
grid. Sorting preference is persistent, per user account, and can be
changed at any time on *index.php*. This preference lives in the GNU
remotecontrol database, in the *user* table.
* *Display Language* - This form control selects the language
you choose to display your GNU remotecontrol session for your GNU
remotecontrol user account. The language option you choose to
display GNU remotecontrol is saved in your GNU remotecontrol user
account profile in the GNU remotecontrol database. This setting is
saved for you so you do not have to choose a language option each
time you use GNU remotecontrol. Selecting another language option
to display GNU remote control will update this setting of your GNU
remotecontrol user account in the GNU remotecontrol database. This
display information lives in the GNU remotecontrol database, in
the *language* table. You can edit this information to better suit
your liking or add another language to the GNU remotecontrol
database. Please see the section *Usage Recommendations* for
instruction to achieve either of these options.
* *Device Name* - This object stores the device name of the
thermostat. This object is controlled through the web interface on
the General Settings web page of the thermostat.
* *Site Name* - This object stores the device location of the
thermostat. This object is controlled through the web interface on
the General Settings web page of the thermostat.
* *Model #* - This object stores the device model number. It is
read-only, and resident in the thermostat device firmware.
* *Group* - This field stores the group name for the thermostat.
It is a pull-down, that comes from the *admin.php* web page. This
field provides additional capability for managing groups of
thermostats, in a forth coming software release. For now, it
serves to provide another field for you to further categorize your
thermostat profiles. Examples of groups include Power Grids, the
floor of a building (Floor 1, Floor 2, Floor 3), or a wing of a
floor of building (1st-North, 1st-South, 1st-East, 1st-West).
* *Custom Name* - This field is unique to GNU remotecontrol and
not on the device. We added this field to supplement the *Device
Name* and *Site Name* fields on the device. The intent of this
field is to increase capability when you use your Database
Management to separate out thermostats for management purposes
currently unforeseen. It is always nice to have more capability
than necessary. An example of how to use this field is to enter
GPS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps) coordinates of where your
thermostat is located or further define the *Site Name* field.
* *Description* - This field is unique to GNU remotecontrol and
not on the device. We added this field to supplement the *Device
Name* and *Site Name* fields on the device. The intent of this
field is to increase capability when you use your Database
Management to separate out thermostats for management purposes
currently unforeseen. It is always nice to have more capability
than necessary. An example of how to use this field is to enter
GPS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gps) coordinates of where your
thermostat is located or further define the *Site Name* field.
* *Domain Name/IP* - This field is unique to GNU remotecontrol.
You must setup your network to access your thermostat inside
and/or outside of your local network. This entry is the address
necessary for your GNU remotecontrol server to get to your
thermostat device. Enter into this field whatever that address is,
whether it is a private IP address, a public IP address, or a
Fully Qualified Domain Name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fqdn)
address, as concluded through your Domain Name System
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System) resolution.
* *Port* - This is the port your thermostat is set to use for
the address it has been assigned. Please see the field *Domain
Name/IP* for understanding of how to populate this field. This
object is controlled through the web interface on the Network
Settings web page of the thermostat.
* *Time Zone Offset* - This is the Time Zone of where the
thermostat is located. This information lives in the GNU
remotecontrol database, in the *timezoneoffset* table. You may
want to use either the *Custom Name* or *Description* fields to
record Time Zone as a reminder note to yourself. Also, you will
probabaly want to use Database Management to update this field in
the GNU remotecontrol database when Daylight Savings Time occurs.
Please read the section *Time* for more information on this
recommendation.
* *Login * - This field contains the *admin* user account of the
thermostat. Click *Set* after you have added the thermostat. You
are prompted to enter and save the password for the admin user
account of the thermostat. See the section *Adding a Thermostat*
below for more detailed information.
You have *5* different fields available to easily manage your
thermostats. You have *2* on the thermostat device; *Device Name* and
*Site Name*. You have *3* in the GNU remotecontrol database; *Group*,
*Custom Name*, and *Description*. You also have *Model #*, *Domain
Name/IP*, and *Time Zone Offset* available in the GNU remotecontrol
database, though they may not be considered an easy way to identify
your thermostats. Plan out how you want to populate these fields,
making you life much easier for managing your thermostats on a daily
basis.
7.4.3 Usage
-----------
You are ready to use *index.php* web page after you have setup the
*admin.php* user accounts. The detailed sections below address how to
use each capability.
Loading *index.php* causes each attribute of each device to be read.
Please see the section *Adding a Thermostat* for more information. The
thermostats entered in your GNU remotecontrol database will populate
with the current values of the first device in the profile list upon
the initial load of *index.php*. Click the hyperlink _View Settings_ to
see the parameters currently set on the device. You only view the
settings of a single thermostat device, one at a time. This is listed
as _Currently Viewing_, after clicking the hyperlink _View Settings_.
Please see the section *View Settings* for more information.
The data from a thermostat device is not loaded if the thermostat
device cannot be reached or if the thermostat device is unresponsive.
Remember, *index.php* does not populate the values for this thermostat
device if this thermostat device is first in your listing.
A status indicator appears next to each selected thermostat device
when the submission is complete. This status indicator can render:
_Done_, _NoTrans_, or _Error_. A Tool Tip will appear with more
information when hovering over this status indicator.
PHP errors are logged to your PHP logging, if you have this feature
enabled in your PHP configuration. A logging mechanism for errors
returned directly from a thermostat device writes that information to
the GNU remotecontrol database, in the *errorlog* . This logging will
occur when the thermostat device is reachable and responsive, but
something goes awry with the submission, or if there is something wrong
with the device and the device returns an error.
Day in and day out, you will want to know the settings on the
different IP enabled thermostats you are charged with caring for. Using
GNU remotecontrol will help you see if anyone has changed the settings
on an IP enabled thermostat, thereby altering and/or defeating your
Energy Management strategy. Combing into the equation a Remote
Monitoring Server with Email Server notification and you are on top of
the game for Energy Management.
Reload *index.php* at any time you prefer to poll each device and
read the current parameters of the attributes for all device entries.
See *Troubleshooting* for more information.
7.4.3.1 Adding a Thermostat
...........................
Highlighted fields are required.
You must have the password to the *admin* user account for the
device you want GNU remotecontrol to write to. This is to ensure that
the user of GNU remotecontrol has administrative authority to the
device. Mandating usage of the admin user account further assures that
writing to the device occurs by a user with complete authority to that
device. Complete the highlighted fields, click *Add*, and click *Set*
to enter the admin user account password for that thermostat. You have
now completely added your first thermostat to GNU remotecontrol.
Repeat the above paragraph for all remaining thermostats you wish to
add to GNU remotecontrol.
Reload *index.php* at any time you prefer to poll each device and
read the current parameters of the attributes for all device entries.
See *Troubleshooting* for more information.
7.4.3.2 View Settings
.....................
Click _View Settings_ to load the parameters of that specific
thermostat into the *HVAC Settings*, *Setback Scheduling*, and *Sensor
Settings*. _View Settings_ will toggle to display as *Currently
Viewing*. This capability allows you to easily see what each thermostat
is set to once you load *index.php*, versus having to go to each
individual thermostat to review this information. This is a *very*
powerful time and bandwidth saving capability.
Reload *index.php* at any time you prefer to poll each device and
read the current parameters of the attributes for all device entries.
See *Troubleshooting* for more information.
7.4.3.3 Write to a Thermostat - Date and Time
.............................................
Our research during the development of GNU remotecontrol found users
want 2 separate buttons to operate GNU remotecontrol. They want a
button to set the time on a thermostat and another button to set the
rest of the HVAC settings on the thermostat. Here are the steps when
using GNU remotecontrol for writing Date and Time to any device:
1. Select the device you want to write to by way of the check-box.
2. Click *Set Time on Selected Thermostats*.
The Date and Time of the GNU remotecontrol server is displayed to
the right of this button. The time of the GNU remotecontrol server is
not necessarily the same time of the computer you are using. When you
click *Set Time on Selected Thermostats*, the following is achieved:
1. The exact *current* Date and Time of Greenwich Mean Time is
captured in a memory variable.
2. The Date and Time for each selected thermostat is calculated
in comparison to Greenwich Mean Time and the GMT offset stored in
the profile of each thermostat.
3. Writing that calculated Date and Time to each selected
thermostat device.
4. The Transaction History is updated with the OLD and NEW Date
and Time of each thermostat device.
This capability enables you to then use *transactionhistory.php*
and/or Database Management to see if any thermostat device is gaining
or losing time, identifying if you need to investigate a particular
thermostat device. Please review the section above called *Time* for
more information as to why this functionality has been designed.
Reload *index.php* at any time you prefer to poll each device and
read the current parameters of the attributes for all device entries.
See *Troubleshooting* for more information.
7.4.3.4 Write to a Thermostat - HVAC Settings
.............................................
Our research during the development of GNU remotecontrol found users
want 2 separate buttons to operate GNU remotecontrol. They want a
button to set the time on a thermostat and another button to set the
rest of the HVAC settings on the thermostat. Here are the steps when
using GNU remotecontrol for writing HVAC Settings to any device:
1. Select the device you want to write to by way of the check-box.
2. Change the attributes and parameters as you prefer.
3. Click *Submit*.
Once you click the *Submit* button, GNU remotecontrol goes to each
device, makes the changes, and populates the Transaction History in the
GNU remotecontrol database. This capability enables you to then use
*transactionhistory.php* and/or Database Management to see if any
thermostat device is changing settings, identifying if you need to
investigate who is doing this or if the device is problematic. Finally,
*index.php* is refreshed and *only* the attributes that were changed
are reflected with their new values. The benefit of this automation is
the entire list of device attributes are not polled again. This is a
very powerful time and bandwidth saving capability.
Reload *index.php* at any time you prefer to poll each device and
read the current parameters of the attributes for all device entries.
See *Troubleshooting* for more information.
7.4.3.5 Object Parameters
.........................
The list of objects and parameters available for you to select is
listed below.
*-HVAC Settings-*
*HVAC Mode:*
* Off
* Heat
* Cool
* Auto
*Fan Mode:*
* Auto
* On
* Schedule
*Setback Status:*
* Normal
* Hold
* Override
*Setback Heat:*
* Degree Setting
*Setback Cool:*
* Degree Setting
*-Setback Scheduling-*
*Period*
* Morning
* Day
* Evening
* Night
*Time*
* Hour
* Minute
* AM/PM
*Day Class Schedules*
* Occupied
* Unoccupied
* Other
*Heat*
* Degree Setting
*Cool*
* Degree Setting
*Fan*
* Off
* On
* 15, 30, 45 minutes
*Default Weekly Schedule - Days*
* Sunday
* Monday
* Tuesday
* Wednesday
* Thursday
* Friday
* Saturday
*Default Weekly Schedule - Setback Scheduling*
* Occupied
* Unoccupied
* Other
*-Sensor Settings-*
*Local Sensor - State*
* Disabled
* Enabled
*Local Sensor - Averaging*
* Disabled
* Enabled
*Local Sensor - Correction*
* Degree Setting Correction
*Remote Sensor 1 - State*
* Disabled
* Enabled
*Remote Sensor 1 - Averaging*
* Disabled
* Enabled
*Remote Sensor 1 - Correction*
* Degree Setting Correction
*Remote Sensor 2 - State*
* Disabled
* Enabled
*Remote Sensor 2 - Averaging*
* Disabled
* Enabled
*Remote Sensor 2 - Correction*
* Degree Setting Correction
7.5 transactionhistory.php
==========================
7.5.1 Purpose
-------------
The name of this web page is *Transaction History*. It is generated
from the *transactionhistory.php* file. This web page provides the
Transaction History in the GNU remotecontrol application. This
information is rendered from the GNU remotecontrol database, the
*transactionlog* table. This web page is read-only, with search fields
to quickly and easily find what you are looking for.
7.5.2 Fields
------------
* *Thermostat* - The thermostat that was changed.
* *Field* - The device attribute that was changed.
* *Old Value* - The previous parameter of the attribute that was
changed.
* *New Value* - The current parameter of the attribute that was
changed.
* *Timestamp* - The Date/Time the device attribute was changed.
7.5.3 Usage
-----------
Enter search values in the respective fields to quickly filter and
display the rows you are looking for.
The field headers of this web page are rendered in the display
language you choose, but the field data of this web page is not
translated into another display language. The field data is only
rendered in English. This is because the Proliphix thermostat device
only renders in English. This provides you confidence the information
you are looking at in *transactionhistory.php* can be easily compared
to the information rendered in the web server of the Proliphix
thermostat device.
7.6 Troubleshooting
===================
* Go to your error log for your Web Server any time you find a
problem where you are not receiving an error directly from GNU
remotecontrol. Remember, PHP error logging has various logging
levels.
* Review the *errorlog* table to read the information
transmitted by the thermostat device to learn why the thermostat
device failed to properly respond.
* If the IP enabled thermostat is not available because it is
powered off or the data network that contains the IP enabled
thermostat has problems, here is what is achieved:
1. During load of *index.php*, as it reads the
device (IP enabled thermostat) list from the grid at the top
to go and get their current settings, should any device be
unavailable, GNU remotecontrol will proceed on after a few
seconds of no response to look for the next device instead of
halting the process.
2. Look to the status indicator next to each
selected thermostat device when the submission is complete.
This status indicator can render: _Done_, _NoTrans_, or
_Error_. A Tool Tip will appear with more information when
hovering over this status indicator.
8 Usage Recommendations
***********************
8.1 Start Small
===============
You can run GNU remotecontrol on a laptop, a desktop, even a hand-held
computer.....as long as you can achieve setting up your Web Server and
Database Server.
It will probably be much easier on you to setup a GNU remotecontrol
system while using your existing Energy Management Control System. This
will allow you to learn, test, try, think, try some more, all
side-by-side with all of your existing systems. Then, when you are
ready, switch over seamlessly to use GNU remotecontrol as your primary
system, along with your (then) old Energy Management Control System, to
make sure you are absolutely comfortable with your setup of your GNU
remotecontrol system. Finally, once your are comfortable with your GNU
remotecontrol, decommission your old Energy Management Control System.
Benefits of running GNU remotecontrol on a smaller hardware
combination include:
* Getting GNU remotecontrol up and running for a
Proof-of-Concept.
* Managing the HVAC systems of different sites without having to
be at each of those sites.
8.2 Strongly Encouraged
=======================
* Restrict your data network to only allow a few network
addresses to connect to the IP enabled thermostats. This makes
sure the IP enabled thermostat does not get overloaded from too
many users trying to access it where it fails to respond, possibly
requiring the IP enabled thermostat to be power cycled. Use,
instead, the logged data of by minute and by quarter hour to run
your monitoring and reporting. (Please continue reading for more
information to accomplish this recommendation.)
* Setup your Remote Monitoring Server to log sensor readings
every minute. Do this for 15 concurrent minutes. Delete previous
records so you only have the 15 readings in this record set at any
given time. Then, you have a granular recording of data in
combination with your Remote Monitoring Server recording the same
information in 15-minute intervals. It takes about a minute for a
change to register on a sensor, shy of an extreme combination of
circumstances. This sensor reading approach provides you with all
of the monitoring and reporting data you could ever hope for.
* Script setting the time on your IP enabled thermostats.
Recommend setting the time every month, at a minimum. Clocks of
all kinds are always gaining or losing a few seconds here and
there, to the point that it adds up to a few minutes here and
there. Setting the time on a regular monthly basis avoids the
whole gaining and losing problem.
* Roaming Brown Outs
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout_%28electricity%29) and
Natural Disasters in the vicinity of your thermostat devices cause
for your thermostat devices to have all kinds of power supply
problems. Your thermostat device may very well have a weak
on-board battery. That means the Date and Time on your thermostat
has a poor chance of being correct and any Setback Scheduling on
the device has little to no chance of being properly executed. Set
the Date and Time every hour on your thermostat device, at the
very minimum. The fact that a Natural Disaster has occurred means
your Energy Management strategy will be unable to occur, anyway.
Plan some type of HVAC Settings for dealing with a Natural
Disaster. Perhaps a plan for the Winter months and a plan for the
Summer months. Perhaps turning on the fan for Architecture
Ventilation
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventilation_%28architecture%29) is
the best course of action, promoting health and safety in the
facility. Perhaps activating heating or cooling is also in the
best course of action. Use scripting to help you meet this need.
* Use Database Management to change the Time Zone field in the
thermostat profile when Daylight Savings Time occurs. For example,
Database Management will convert North America Eastern Standard
Time, with a GMT offset of -5, to North America Eastern Daylight
Time, with a GMT offset of -4. Remember, there is Australian
Eastern Time and North American Eastern Time, each with Daylight
and Standard options. Clearly, the database aspect of GNU
remotecontrol will help you keep all of your time settings
correct. Using Database Management will also save you the time and
effort of using *index.php* to manually change each thermostat you
have setup in GNU remotecontrol. Set it up as a SQL script to
change the Time Zone entry in the thermostat profile. Run the
script when Daylight Savings Time occurs.
* Script setting your heating/cooling/ventilation levels as a
comparison of outdoors conditions. Say so many degrees difference
between outside and inside, same for a difference in percentage of
relative humidity.
* Use the Remote Monitoring of your location to change a website
appearance
(http://css-tricks.com/using-weather-data-to-change-your-websites-apperance-through-php-and-css/).
* Use the Remote Monitoring of your location to build Software
Widgets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_widget) and/or Web
Widgets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget).
* Setup a simple web page that will fit the temperature and
humidity readings of both the thermostats and the weather
conditions you care about onto the screen of your cell phone
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbrowser). You then can easily
see, in a single viewing
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Web), what you care to know.
* Editing of a Display Language in GNU remotecontrol mandates
editing the contents of the GNU remotecontrol database, the
*language* table and the *resource* table. Edit these tables with
the entries you prefer. Reload *index.php* in your browser. The
changes you made to the *language* table and the *resource* table
in the GNU remotecontrol database are then displayed in all GNU
remotecontrol user account sessions of GNU remotecontrol.
* Adding a Display Language to the GNU remotecontrol database
mandates adding data to the *language* table and the *resource*
table in the GNU remotecontrol database. Add the new fields and
data with the entries you prefer. Reload *index.php* in your
browser. The changes you made to the *language* table and the
*resource* table in the GNU remotecontrol database are then
displayed in all GNU remotecontrol user account sessions of GNU
remotecontrol.
* Use *admin.php* to see the preferred Display Language of your
end-users. This tells you a lot about what training needs they
have that you need to prepare for them.
8.3 Food for Thought
====================
There are many different ways you can use the data you collect:
* Really Simple Syndication (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss)
(RSS)
* Atom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_%28standard%29)
* Web Service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_service)
* Software Widget (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_widget)
* Web Widget (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget)
9 Use Case Scenarios
********************
The following are very real examples, with abstract names, to
illustrate how to put all of this technology together so it will work
for you.
9.1 Scenario 1 - Building Maintenance
=====================================
This person is overworked and underpaid at the *ABC Corporation*. They
have a boss that all the time wants to know if "thus and so" got done.
This person needs a way to get things done faster and have automated
documentation that it is complete.
This person uses GNU remotecontrol to help with setting the HVAC in
this company, and does a screen shot of the Transaction History for
their boss to see, as their boss wants an email to see what happens.
9.2 Scenario 2 - Office Worker
==============================
This person is overworked and underpaid at *Super-Duper Insurance
Company*. They haves a boss that all the time wants to know if "thus
and so" got done. They need a way to get things done faster and have
automated documentation that it is complete.
They use GNU remotecontrol to help with setting the HVAC in this
company, and does a screen shot of the Transaction History for their
boss to see, as their boss wants an email to see what happens.
9.3 Scenario 3 - Property Manager
=================================
This person is overworked and underpaid at *Manage 4 You Property
Management Corporation*. They have a boss that all the time wants to
know if "thus and so" got done. This person needs a way to get things
done faster and have automated documentation that it is complete.
This person uses GNU remotecontrol to help with setting the HVAC in
the properties to achieve considerable savings on energy cost, and does
a screen shot of the Transaction History for their boss to see, as
their boss wants an email to see what happens.
9.4 Scenario 4 - Restaurant Operations
======================================
This person is doing pretty well in life. This person owns several
restaurants around town called *Super Good Eats*. Each site has 2
different HVAC units. This person also setup an IP thermostat in their
house. Later, they needed to care for their elderly mother, so they put
an IP thermostat in the house of their mother. When this person sets
the IP thermostat in their house, they set the house of their mother
the same way. This way, this person knows pretty well how things are in
the house of their mother, even though they are not there with their
mother.
The corporate office is all of the time messing with the IP
thermostat and there is a lot of inner-office politics from this
problem. This person wanted that problem to go away, and to quit paying
through the nose in electric bill to keep the air conditioning going.
This person set's the corporate office the same as their home, so they
know the climate in the office pretty is much the same as the climate
in their home. The owner can now can shut down arguments often before
they occur.
This person is saving so much money on energy costs they were able
to buy a cabin in the mountains for when they and their family want to
get away from the ocean front, where they live. This person remotely
sets the temperature before they arrive at their cabin. The owner also
makes sure that the temperature and humidity in their cabin is not too
extreme when they are away, so pipes don't burst, and that there is not
a mold/mildew problem.
9.5 Scenario 5 - Certified Energy Manager
=========================================
The Certified Energy Manager (CEM) needs to manage multiple sites for
multiple customers. The CEM needs to log data over a long time period.
The CEM needs to adjust set-points on different HVAC equipment to work
out the specific energy control measures for each customer. The CEM has
multiple Direct Digital Control
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Digital_Control) (DDC) points. The
CEM needs to know a great deal of information from these DDC points.
The CEM could very much benefit from having all of this information
coming to them in a structured manner, all stored in a database,
leveraging their already existing Information Technology to access and
manage this collection of resources.
The CEM can setup GNU remotecontrol over different computers. The
Web Server, Database Server, Email Server, and Remote Monitoring Server
are all separate from the CEM laptop. The CEM is free to travel and
access GNU remotecontrol as necessary to adjust set-points, while
receiving notifications that something needs attention. The CEM is not
bound to their office all day long.
9.6 Scenario 6 - Industrial Manufacturing Facility
==================================================
This site has many different air-handling units, many different
dampers, and several sources of heat. The facility has adequate staff
to handle on-site maintenance. See the section above regarding the
Certified Energy Manger to learn more about the aspect of accessing and
managing Direct Digital Control (DDC) points.
The benefit here is using GNU remotecontrol to decrease reaction
time when Remote Monitoring finds a temperature or humidity threshold
is close to being reached and not interrupt manufacturing operations.
9.7 Scenario 7 - Facility Manager
=================================
This scenario is a refinement of the Industrial Manufacturing Facility
illustration, but wider in scope than only manufacturing.
The Facility Manager often does not have a Certified Energy Manger
to work with them. See the section above regarding the Certified Energy
Manger to learn more about the aspect of accessing and managing Direct
Digital Control (DDC) points.
This site has many different air-handling units, many different
dampers, and several sources of heat. The facility has adequate staff
to handle on-site maintenance. The benefit here is using GNU
remotecontrol to decrease reaction time when Remote Monitoring finds a
temperature or humidity threshold is close to being reached and not
interrupt facility operations.
Examples of their daily maintenance routine includes:
* Cleaning thermostats and sensors after they get a build up of
dust, oil, or other pollutants on them, defeating their ability to
operate well or at all.
* Assist with device calibrating efforts, as a hand-held
thermostat and a networked sensor showing the same reading is
always preferred.
* Justifying HVAC upgrades, as appropriate, to different areas of
the facility. Examples of this include a fan, a compressor, a
coil, or changing from constant air volume to a variable air
volume terminal unit.
* Managing workers to achieve these tasks.
There are loads of reasons to implement automation in this facility.
Mostly, to help the staff accomplish their work in a timely manner, and
assure they have a way to schedule vacation time for the staff.
9.8 Scenario 8 - External Information
=====================================
See the *Cautionary* paragraph in the *Power over Ethernet* section. It
is necessary to understand about powering a thermostat for this
scenario to make sense. There are countless ways to bring external
information sensors into your IP enabled thermostat and use your Remote
Monitoring Server to get that data to you.
9.9 Scenario 9 - Financial Manager
==================================
The Financial Manager is the person that has spending authority over
the facility. Month after month, they have high electric and fuel bills
because their facility is running either too hot or too cold due to an
inability to effectively operate the HVAC systems. They do not have
separate meters to know what part of the facility is using however much
electricity or fuel. They simply have to do something, as they cannot
justify these high expense every month. They lead a Cost Benefit
Analysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost%E2%80%93benefit_analysis)
for their facility, leveraging the staff that works at the facility, a
Certified Energy Manager, off-site staff, and anyone else they need to
complete their Cost Benefit Analysis. The end result is to know if GNU
remotecontrol will help them lower their electric and fuel bills. Most
likely, it will.
9.10 Scenario 10 - Automated Meter Reading
==========================================
Automated Meter Reading
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_meter_reading) is not the same
as Smart Metering (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter). They are
both part of Advanced Metering Infrastructure
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter#Advanced_metering_infrastructure).
Smart Metering has much more capability than Automated Meter Reading.
Suffice it to say, if you are going to implement either of these
technologies, it only makes sense to be able to do something with all
of that data. Responding by changing your HVAC system, as appropriate,
very much helps to increase the effectiveness of you Energy Management
strategy. Connect your Remote Monitoring Server to the data coming in
from your Automated Meter Reading or Smart Metering so you can compare
that data to the rest of the data you are capturing. You will have a
very clear picture of how much energy you are using to achieve your
Energy Management strategy.
9.11 Scenario 11 - Smart Metering
=================================
Smart Metering (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter) is not the
same as Automated Meter Reading
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_meter_reading). They are both
part of Advanced Metering Infrastructure
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter#Advanced_metering_infrastructure).
Smart Metering has much more capability than Automated Meter Reading.
Suffice it to say, if you are going to implement either of these
technologies, it only makes sense to be able to do something with all
of that data. Responding by changing your HVAC system, as appropriate,
very much helps to increase the effectiveness of you Energy Management
strategy. Connect your Remote Monitoring Server to the data coming in
from your Automated Meter Reading or Smart Metering so you can compare
that data to the rest of the data you are capturing. You will have a
very clear picture of how much energy you are using to achieve your
Energy Management strategy.
9.12 Scenario 12 - Utility Providers
====================================
This provider has decided to offer an Energy Management service to
their customer. They have thousands and thousands of customers. They
need a way to help their customer manage their thermostat for
generating heating and cooling, but also maintain air flow in their
residential and commercial facilities. This provider also needs to
improve their ability to monitor energy consumption, plan for energy
manufacturing, and manage emergencies such as roaming Brownouts
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout_%28electricity%29) caused by
storms and other catastrophic events. Please see the section *Usage
Recommendations* for more information.
Turning off all power to the HVAC system as a whole removes the
ability of the HVAC fan to circulate air and maintain air flow. This
defeats the Energy Management strategy, as circulating some amount of
air necessary for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most importantly,
Environmental Health and Safety
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Health_and_Safety) has
different ventilation requirements for residential, commercial, and
industrial facilities.
This provider has a 2 part offering to their customers. Part 1, the
provider uses GNU remotecontrol to do more than just turn off the
electricity, water, and/or fuel to the HVAC unit. They are now capable
of providing either heating or cooling adjustments while having the
HVAC fan circulate air, or only circulate air without a heating or
cooling adjustment. This combination of options now available are much
more than turning off the entire HVAC unit. Part 2, the provider also
uses Smart Metering to connect HVAC usage with energy meter readings to
log readings on an hourly basis. This combined offering provides for
better control and usage of energy resources, HVAC resources, and
visibility to understand customer energy usage. Energy usage as the
billing cycle progresses and historically, of course. Imagine how happy
the customer will be to be able to see that granular level of detailed
billing.
9.13 Summary
============
There is no single reason to implement GNU remotecontrol. The reasoning
is often multiple and overlapping. All of these reasons help to
decrease your costs and increase your comfort level. Think locally and
globally, and you will easily see there is more good reason to use GNU
remotecontrol than ever considered before.
10 Implementation Cost
**********************
The GNU remotecontrol framework leverages already existing Information
Technologies of a Data Network, Web Server with a complete Operating
System, Database Server, Remote Monitoring Server, and Email Server.
The cost to implement GNU remotecontrol is then reduced to the
following ordered list:
1. Labor to obtain and prepare GNU remotecontrol.
2. Labor to configure your already existing Information Technologies.
3. Purchase cabling to run from your data network to your IP enabled
thermostat.
4. Labor to install cabling from your data network to your IP enabled
thermostat.
5. Purchase IP enabled thermostat.
6. Purchase a power supply for IP enabled thermostat.
7. Labor to install IP enabled thermostat.
8. Labor to install power supply for IP enabled thermostat.
9. Labor to configure IP enabled thermostat.
It is highly recommended you choose external sensors for your IP
enabled thermostat having pre-wired cabling long enough to reach where
you need the external sensor to reside. Adding in more cable between a
device and an external sensor is often problematic. Mixing different
cable types, in either quality of cable or type of cable.....or
both.....very often result with problems to having accurate sensor
readings. This pre-wired cabling, per manufacturer design and intent of
their sensor, decreases the likelihood of the sensor resulting with
skewed metrics. Most external sensors are extremely touchy. This is a
good thing, as it provides you with accurate metrics. However, proper
cable selection of an external sensor is paramount to proper metrics.
Go with the option of a manufacturer having enough cable as-built to
meet your needs and not splicing on additional cable.
Finally, consider the benefit of connecting your external sensor
directly to your IP enabled thermostat, provided the IP enabled
thermostat can accept it. The benefit of sensor averaging is highly
valuable to improving system performance. A direct connection to the IP
enabled thermostat also eliminates the need for another power supply to
operate the external sensor.
The cost to implement GNU remotecontrol, in comparison with a lesser
Energy Management strategy for any HVAC system, justifies the
completion of a Cost Benefit Analysis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost%E2%80%93benefit_analysis) to
determine if GNU remotecontrol is appropriate for your circumstances.
Most likely, it is.
11 Roadmap
**********
The GNU remotecontrol Road Map is planned for and limited by the
following boundaries.
11.1 Interoperability
=====================
The Future of GNU remotecontrol is a commitment to International
standards and protocols for Information Technology to provide
availability, relevance, transparency, and maintenance of the GNU
remotecontrol framework. The BACnet XML Working Group
(http://www.bacnet.org/WG/XML/index.html) is an excellent example of
these attributes. For more information, *Note GNU remotecontrol &
BACnet::.
11.2 HVAC Original Equipment Manufacturer - Feature Addition
============================================================
OEM's have not added the feature of IP enablement in the past. The
benefits for OEM's to add IP enablement to their thermostat product
offering far outweigh any hindrance from remaining a standalone device.
Examples of these benefits include interoperability, furthered Energy
Management strategies, and increased customer satisfaction from the new
capability of remote access to their thermostat.
11.3 HVAC Aftermarket Equipment Manufacturer - Feature Addition
===============================================================
AEM's have added the feature of IP enablement in the past with limited
success. This is mostly due to the dependency on another piece of
proprietary technology to handle translation of some proprietary
technology to the data network for the thermostat. The proprietary
aspect of the technology will often bottleneck the success of that
technology. The success of the thermostat as a complimentary good is
well proven. There are hundreds of different programmable thermostats
for sale at both the local home supply stores and globally. Proper
selection of any aftermarket product or service is critical to the
success of the primary product being supplemented. A simple example of
this is selecting the different parts to enhance an engine for an
automobile, or a boat, or a snow mobile, et cetera. Aftermarket
Equipment Manufacturers must demonstrate they have in their offering
the capability to not damage the existing primary product.
Specifically, a heating and cooling system. There must also be solid
proof their offering enhances system performance by adding additional
feature/benefit combinations. Finally, their offering must be
constructed to meet manufacturing directives, such as RoHS
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROHS).
11.4 Cost Benefit Analysis
==========================
The outcome of your Cost Benefit Analysis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost%E2%80%93benefit_analysis) will help
you see your Return on Investment
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate_of_return) (ROI). This will probably
be the bottom line to the success of GNU remotecontrol for you. The
Retro Commission
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_service_company#Retro-commissioning)
(RCx) of any facility, small or large, is best evaluated by.....*is it
worth it*? Even Testing-Adjusting-Balancing
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testing_Adjusting_Balancing) a system is
well worth the time and effort, to make sure your system is setup as
suitable for your needs and wants. The answer to this ROI question
mandates completing several different calculations to make that
determination. New construction does not require as many calculations
to come to that determination, but often mandates different aspects to
be evaluated and then calculated. Don't forget to add in the
cost/saving of Information Technology. This list includes system
design, capital expenditures, and system operation. Then, don't forget
to add in your End User cost/saving for training and system operation.
Not every facility must have a complete set of calculations to know
what you need to do for your Energy Management strategy. Consider
simple advice on best practices offered by your *qualified* Decision
Makers to help you select what is best for you. Regardless of what you
choose for your Energy Management strategy, have a plan.....work the
plan.....review and revise your plan, as appropriate.
The cost to implement GNU remotecontrol, in comparison with a lesser
Energy Management strategy for any HVAC system, justifies the
completion of a Cost Benefit Analysis
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost%E2%80%93benefit_analysis) to
determine if GNU remotecontrol is appropriate for your circumstances.
Most likely, it is.
12 REFERENCE
************
12.1 Cabling 101
================
12.1.1 Introduction
-------------------
The intent of this writing is *not* to make you an expert in cabling.
The intent is to provide you with the necessary reference information,
tips, and recommendations for you to wisely use cabling. There is no,
repeat.....no substitute for hands on experience with cabling.
Please carefully read all of this information before you attempt
your cabling efforts. Experience is a great teacher, so don't be afraid
or discouraged if you mix up wiring patterns or do not terminate a
connection well enough through the proper amount of pressure on a wire
connector in the beginning of your cabling efforts.
12.1.2 Cable
------------
Category 5 cable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable) is
available in many forms. The cable is solid core 24-AWG
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge). 8 separately
jacketed wires, twisted in pairs, making 4 pairs all contained within a
protective jacket. The jacket that wraps around that cable is either
Plenum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenum_cable) or Non-Plenum.
Plenum cable is rated for a fire hazard area. Category 5 cabling is
often rated as low-voltage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_voltage),
meaning you do not need a license to install the cable. Please contact
your local fire authority for more information.
12.1.3 Grounding
----------------
Proper cable grounding is essential for safety. The assumption that the
cable carries a low amount of voltage is true, but it also carries
enough capability to damage the equipment connected together via your
cable and you.....the cabling person. The differences between
surge-suppression (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_suppression) and
transient-voltage-suppression
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient-voltage-suppression_diode)
cannot be stated enough. Please contact your local fire authority for
more information.
12.1.4 Installation
-------------------
Category 5 cable is installed in either electrical conduit
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_conduit), cable trays
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_tray), or J-Hooks
(https://www.google.com/search?q=j-hooks). Cable must, must, must be
properly supported to prevent stretching the copper wire and cause for
minor breaks in the wire. Minor wire breaks cause for performance
issues in quality-of-service
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_service), and lead to a
breakage in one or more wires. Cable is laid out in a pattern of either
a main distribution frame
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_distribution_frame) or an
intermediate distribution frame
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_distribution_frame).
12.1.5 Termination
------------------
Properly installed cable is then connected with some type of registered
jack/plug (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack). This end
result is called a cable termination or a wire termination.
12.1.6 Testing
--------------
All cabling must have continuity
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_test) all of the time. A
simple cable tester (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_tester) is
probably the most manageable continuity tester
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_tester) there is after cable
has been terminated with a registered jack/plug to determine if you
have continuity. If you have nothing else to test with, connecting 2
bare wires together with a wire nut
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_nut) on one end, then testing the
other ends with a multi-meter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimeter)
is always an option. This is quite valuable after cable has been laid
in place and you want to know if it has continuity before terminating
the cable.
12.1.7 Usage Notes
------------------
* You have the probability of good quality-of-service
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_service) after cable is
properly installed, but it is not guaranteed. Wise planning of
your installation is paramount to not having problems related to
cabling.
* Most cable installations go through some type of usage change
during the lifecycle of the cable. Today, imagine you have 1
device connecting to 1 port on your data network switch. Tomorrow,
you may need more devices to connect to the same port on that same
data network switch. That means you need to put another data
network switch into the picture. Where that additional data
network switch will reside is the unknown. Moving more data across
that same cable means the quality of that cable, and the quality
of installing that cable, really does matter. Sure, you can always
pull more cable. However, you still need more ports on a data
network switch that lives somewhere to connect those additional
devices. Wise choices for cable installation provides more options
to choose from, options that can easily increase cost
effectiveness for owning and operating your equipment.
* Your continuity tester will help you see when you have the
proper wiring pattern and the proper amount of pressure on a wire
termination.
* A majority of the cables manufacturers post a required a
minimum bend radius for their cable of, "_four times the
diameter_" to avoid problems. A cable loop that is too small
results in nothing more than broken cable. Minor wire breaks cause
for performance issues in quality-of-service. It is not worth
installing lesser quality cable that will cause you problems, nor
is it worth installing good cable in a way that will cause you
problems. Plan your installation and you will have years of
satisfaction from your cable.
* Pull some extra cable, loop it in a circle, and wire tie the
cable loop together. That provides for moving terminated cable a
bit if necessary, and provides extra cable should you mix up
things when you terminate the cable and need to correct the
termination.
* The satisfaction from installing your own cable is great,
indeed. The cost of installing your own cable is sometimes best
paid for through a cabling company. Count the cost and choose
either your own labor or labor from a cabling company that best
suits you requirements.
* Remember, quality-of-service
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_service) is only possible
after cable is properly installed.
12.1.8 Cautionary
-----------------
Whatever you do, always install your cable as required by your fire
authority and always, always, always properly support your cable with
either electrical conduit, cable trays, or J-Hooks. Suffice it to say,
cable that is not properly supported will eventually have small cracks
in the wire, resulting in a quality-of-service
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_service) loss, progressing to
intermittent continuity problems, and ultimately completely break the
wire somewhere within the cable jacket.
12.2 Power over Ethernet (PoE) 101
==================================
12.2.1 Introduction
-------------------
Power over Ethernet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet)
is quite possibly the best thing to come along to the Information
Technology world of hardware since the 1980's. Literally, it is that
wonderful! The essence of PoE is you can use cable that is rated as
low-voltage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_voltage) to power a
multitude of PoE hardware devices
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet#Uses). The list of
what is capable of PoE is constantly growing. Here are some common PoE
terms to understand.
12.2.2 Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE)
-------------------------------------
The PSE
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet#Power_sourcing_equipment)
is the network PoE element that inserts power onto a Category 5 cable.
It may be an endspan device, such as a PoE-enabled data network switch,
or a midspan device located between the data network switch and the
Powered Device (PD).
12.2.3 Powered Device (PD)
--------------------------
A PD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet#Powered_device)
is the PoE capable device that receives power over Category 5 cable. It
could be a PoE-enabled IP telephone, a Wireless Access Point, an IP
enabled HVAC thermostat, any other IP device that needs electrical
power.
12.2.4 Midspan
--------------
A midspan device is a PSE that inserts power onto the Category 5 cable.
It is situated between the data network switch and the PD. Typically,
midspan devices are added to existing networks to allow the use of
PoE-enabled PD's.
12.2.5 Endspan
--------------
An endspan device is typically a data network switch that incorporates
PoE capabilities. Endspan devices often are implemented when a new
network is created, to avoid adding both midspan devices and a data
network switch.
12.2.6 Usage Notes
------------------
Now, should you need/want to move a device such as a Wireless Access
Point, an IP telephone, or an HVAC sensor to another
location.....imagine how nice it would be to not have to juggle the
powering of that device. There are many combination
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet#Powering_devices)
options available for PoE capable hardware.
Pressing onward, imagine a device is locked up and you need to power
the device off and then turn it back on. Walking to that device could
very well be a hassle, and could require opening a lot of access
panels. Using PoE, you can turn off the power over your data network
and then turn it back on.
The thing for you with PoE is you need to determine how much
electrical power you need. That will tell you what specification you
need to comply with. The manufacturer of the PoE device will tell you
what standards they are compatible with. From there, buy the PoE
supply. Your selection is either a simple single-port power injector
(Midspan), or a rack-mounted
(http://www.microsemi.com/products/powerdsine) midspan power injector,
or buy new data network switches that have PoE built-in as an
integrated feature (Endspan). Count the cost and choose as best suits
you.
The biggest benefit of PoE is you have the ability to have a better
handle on your surge-suppression
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_suppression) and
transient-voltage-suppression
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient-voltage-suppression_diode)
efforts. This is because you so chose to install your cabling as
recommended. Running a wire as an extension off of an HVAC unit, or a
wall outlet, to supply electricity to power the PoE capable hardware,
without also providing proper protection for that PoE hardware, is
absolutely and positively nothing but trouble. That trouble often shows
up as electrical damage in the form of peculiar performance of the
hardware, or even hardware failure.
12.2.7 Cautionary
-----------------
Here is a strong and very simple example of why powering your IP
enabled thermostat from an HVAC unit is a bad idea.
The drain line on the HVAC unit somehow gets blocked. This triggers
the float switch to prevent flooding and that powers down the whole
system. The thermostat has then been turned off due to the absence of
power to the thermostat. The same is true if you power your IP enabled
thermostat from your HVAC and not PoE. *That means you will be unable
to access your IP enabled thermostat from your data network*.
You can also hook your float switch to your IP enabled thermostat,
as an external information sensor, and know when that float switch is
activated via Remote Monitoring. Power over Ethernet is a
really.....really.....good idea.
Whatever you do, always use cable safely. Please contact your local
fire authority for more information.
13 Contributors
***************
Stephen Dawson (https://savannah.gnu.org/users/shdawson), Robert
Tallent, Robert Vincent, Michael Jacoby, Travis Paul, Virgilio Lino,
and a host of others.....too many to keep track of. Their contribution
is well respected and greatly appreciated.
14 GNU Free Documentation License
*********************************
Appendix A GNU Free Documentation License
*****************************************
Version 1.2, November 2002
Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
0. PREAMBLE
The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other
functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to
assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it,
with or without modifying it, either commercially or
noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the
author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not
being considered responsible for modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative
works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense.
It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft
license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for
free software, because free software needs free documentation: a
free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms
that the software does. But this License is not limited to
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We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is
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state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from
which the general network-using public has access to download
using public-standard network protocols a complete Transparent
copy of the Document, free of added material. If you use the
latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you
begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that
this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated
location until at least one year after the last time you
distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or
retailers) of that edition to the public.
It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of
the Document well before redistributing any large number of
copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated
version of the Document.
4. MODIFICATIONS
You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document
under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you
release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with
the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus
licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to
whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these
things in the Modified Version:
A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title
distinct from that of the Document, and from those of
previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed
in the History section of the Document). You may use the
same title as a previous version if the original publisher of
that version gives permission.
B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or
entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in
the Modified Version, together with at least five of the
principal authors of the Document (all of its principal
authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you
from this requirement.
C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the
Modified Version, as the publisher.
D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications
adjacent to the other copyright notices.
F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license
notice giving the public permission to use the Modified
Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in
the Addendum below.
G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant
Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's
license notice.
H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title,
and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new
authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on
the Title Page. If there is no section Entitled "History" in
the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors,
and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page,
then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in
the previous sentence.
J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document
for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and
likewise the network locations given in the Document for
previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in
the "History" section. You may omit a network location for a
work that was published at least four years before the
Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version
it refers to gives permission.
K. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications",
Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the
section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor
acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.
L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document,
unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers
or the equivalent are not considered part of the section
titles.
M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section
may not be included in the Modified Version.
N. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled
"Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant
Section.
O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.
If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or
appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no
material copied from the Document, you may at your option
designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this,
add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified
Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any
other section titles.
You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains
nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various
parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text
has been approved by an organization as the authoritative
definition of a standard.
You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text,
and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end
of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one
passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be
added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the
Document already includes a cover text for the same cover,
previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity
you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may
replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous
publisher that added the old one.
The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this
License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to
assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
You may combine the Document with other documents released under
this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for
modified versions, provided that you include in the combination
all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents,
unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all
their Warranty Disclaimers.
The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and
multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single
copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name
but different contents, make the title of each such section unique
by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the
original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a
unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in
the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the
combined work.
In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled
"History" in the various original documents, forming one section
Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled
"Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled "Dedications". You
must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements."
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other
documents released under this License, and replace the individual
copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy
that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the
rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the
documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and
distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert
a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow
this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of
that document.
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other
separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of
a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the
copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the
legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual
works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this
License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which
are not themselves derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these
copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half
of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed
on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the
electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic
form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket
the whole aggregate.
8. TRANSLATION
Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may
distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section
4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special
permission from their copyright holders, but you may include
translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the
original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a
translation of this License, and all the license notices in the
Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also
include the original English version of this License and the
original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a
disagreement between the translation and the original version of
this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will
prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements",
"Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to
Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the
actual title.
9. TERMINATION
You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document
except as expressly provided for under this License. Any other
attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is
void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this
License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights,
from you under this License will not have their licenses
terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of
the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new
versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may
differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See
`http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/'.
Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version
number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered
version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you
have the option of following the terms and conditions either of
that specified version or of any later version that has been
published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If
the Document does not specify a version number of this License,
you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the
Free Software Foundation.
ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
====================================================
To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of
the License in the document and put the following copyright and license
notices just after the title page:
Copyright (C) YEAR YOUR NAME.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
Free Documentation License''.
If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover
Texts, replace the "with...Texts." line with this:
with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with
the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts
being LIST.
If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other
combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the
situation.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of
free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to
permit their use in free software.